Pietro Lorenzetti (active 1320-45)

Pietro Lorenzetti, one of the early members
of the Sienese
School of painting, was probably ten years older than his brother
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, but it is not
absolutely certain that a document of 1305 relates to this painter. Like
Simone Martini, he grew up at a time
when the artistic climate was dominated by the mature painting of Duccio
di Buoninsegna, but unlike these two Old
Masters, Pietro manifested an extremely dramatic, passionate temperament.
After difficult beginnings and considerable efforts to free himself from
the tradition of Duccio, he soon began to look towards Giotto,
from whom he took the profound divisions of space, while adapting them
to the traditional trecento
language of Siena. His most significant work in this respect is the triptych
with the Virgin and Child between St Francis and St John the Baptist,
painted in fresco (Assisi, Basilica of S. Francesco, Lower Church), but
the coherence of these beginnings is equally apparent in the succeeding
works, all dating from between 1310 and 1320, and all notable contributions
to 14th century Pre-Renaissance
Painting. Among the most characteristic are The Virgin and Child
with Angels and the Crucifix (Cortona Museum); the polyptych representing
the Virgin and Child and Saints (now split up: Church of Monticchiello;
Florence, Home Museum; Le Mans Museum); the Virgin in Majesty (Philadelphia
Museum, Johnson Coll); and a small Crucifixion and Saints (Cambridge,
Massachusetts, Fogg Art Museum).

COLOURS USED IN
PAINTING
For an idea of the pigments
used by Pietro Lorenzetti
in his colour painting,
see: Renaissance
Colour Palette.

WHAT IS ART?
For an explanation of theaesthetic issues surrounding
the creative visual arts, see:Art Definition, Meaning.

Powerful Style of Painting

These works allow us to follow the evolution
of Pietro Lorenzetti's powerful style, and reveal his preoccupation with
problems that are wholly modern in their concern to express pathos or
tragic eloquence. Even when he draws inspiration from the violent elements
in the sculptures of Giovanni
Pisano, his natural talent is accompanied by a deep expression of
feeling, rendered by colours whose tones are alternately brilliant and
deep. He is thus able to transform the aristocratic tradition of Siena
into a realistic and human style of representation, whose freedom is highlighted
by an even wider choice of theme and by a vigour that is both plastic
and formal.

This exploration culminated in the fine
fresco painting of the Lower Church
of S. Francesco, Assisi (which some critics, however, attribute to Pietro's
workshop), and also the Scenes of the Passion (from The Entry
of Christ into Jerusalem to The Ascent of Calvary) and the
great polyptych of The Virgin and Child with Saints (still on its
original site on the high altar of the Pieve in Arezzo), commissioned
in 1320 and his first dated work. These paintings mark the beginnings
of Lorenzetti's mature period, when he produced works of the large-scale
inventiveness demanded by the art of the fresco, on themes of pathos or
tragedy, powerful in their intensity. Therein lies the dominating theme
which unites the frescoes of the left transept in the Lower Church of
Assisi.

By its sheer size and spiritual grandeur,
the great Crucifixion dominates the other scenes in this transept. The
artist surrounded the scene of suffering on the Cross with a confused
and variegated crowd of worshippers, soldiers and horsemen, as though
the howling mob from the CimabueCrucifixion
had been transported into a theatrical setting. This masterpiece influenced
not only Sienese painting but much of the art of the period by its tremendous
innovations in setting, expressiveness and iconography. The other frescoes
in the cycle are no less admirable and include the Scenes from the
Passion after the death of Christ (from the Deposition to the
Resurrection), and The Stigmatization of St Francis.

Florentine Influence

From 1329 comes the altarpiece
formerly in the Carmelite church (Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale), which,
particularly in its astonishing predella (Scenes from the Lives of
the Carmelite Monks), reveals Pietro Lorenzetti's encounter with the
new Florentine Proto-Renaissance
art, and more precisely with the work of Maso di Banco. Here, the
prophetic fervour of the Assisi frescoes is toned down, and the work reveals
an admirable composition, more ornate and worldly, and displaying severe,
almost classical, colours and proportions.

The three panel
paintings of the polyptych (dated 1331-2) representing St Bartholomew,
St Cecilia and St John the Baptist (formerly in the Pieve di S. Cecilia
at Cremola; Siena, P.N.) reveal a marked affinity with works which were
formerly attributed to a hypothetical painter, close to Lorenzetti in
style, who was conventionally known as the 'Master of the Dijon Triptych'
(this work is now in Dijon Museum). From this group the Virgin and
Child of the Loeser Collection (Florence, Palazzo Vecchio) should
be singled out, along with its accompanying panels (now in the Metropolitan
Museum) and the small paintings depicting the Virgin and Child Surrounded
by Saints (Baltimore, Waiters Collection; Milan, Poldi-Pezzoli Museum;
Berlin Dahlem), Christ before Pilate (Vatican), or the small panel
with St Sabinus before the Governor (London, N.G.), which should
be linked to the great altarpiece, begun in 1335, for Siena Cathedral,
the central panel of which consisted of the Birth of the Virgin,
dated 1342 (Siena, Museo dell' Opera della Metropolitana).

Reputation

The wonderful Virgin in Majesty
(1340, UffIzi), previously at Pistoia, and the polyptych describing Scenes
from the Life of the Blessed Humilitas, certainly executed after 1332
(Uffizi; two panels in Berlin-Dahlem), conclude Pietro Lorenzetti's stylistic
evolution, which was concentrated on a neo-Giottoesque study of the synthesis
of forms and of colours. The art of Pietro Lorenzetti had a profound influence,
which was prolonged by his numerous followers and imitators (Nicolo di
Segna, the Master of San Pietro d'Ovile). One of the most interesting
of Proto-Renaissance
artists, it may safely be said that for a long time after Lorenzetti's
death, no Sienese artist remained unaffected by the imprint of his incomparable
poetic personality.

Note: Other members of the Siena School
of painting during the 14th century, in addition to the Lorenzetti brothers,
were: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Simone Martini, Sassetta
(Stefano di Giovanni), and Matteo di Giovanni. During the 15th century,
a major figure of the school was Giovanni
di Paolo (c.1400-82).

Paintings by Pietro Lorenzetti can be seen
in many of the best art museums throughout
the world.

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see: History of Art.
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